Fly Tying Tutorial for the MINI Midnight Reaper

by Paul Laemmlen

Big Lake Rainbow

Adding a glass rattle and bead chain legs to trout flies has made such a difference in night-fishing success, that I decided to incorporate those same fish-attracting features into a noisy little fly that can be fished day or night - just like you would fish a Woolly Bugger. This fly, the Mini Midnight Reaper, can be tied in any color to imitate aquatic life such as baitfish, insects and leeches. A crawfish-colored Mini Reaper with its practically weedless construction, is irresistible to fish, creating commotion and sound waves as it scuttles along the bottom.

The Mini Reaper is simply a stepped-down version of the larger night-fishing Reapers, see: https://lakestreamstudio.com/blogs/news/tying-tutorial-for-the-midnight-reaper-version-2-0-night-fishing-fly. A 90-degree jig hook in sizes 6 or 8, paired with a 5/32” or smaller cone creates a compact chassis on which to tie the noise-making components. Cone heads as small as 3/32” and up to 3/16” can be fitted to jig hooks from sizes 10 to size 6. The 15mm long glass rattles used on the large Midnight Reapers would be oversized for the small hooks used on the Mini Reaper, so a shorter, 9mm long glass rattle solves that problem.

-------------- MINI MIDNIGHT REAPER Material List ----------------

  • Hook: MUSTAD 90° 2X strong jig hook, size 6 or 8
  • Head: WHOLESALE FLY COMPANY – 3/32” to 3/16” brass cone head (any color)
  • Pin: dressmaker’s stainless steel head pin
  • Thread: VEEVUS GSP 100D, (any color)
  • Tail: FULLING MILL Premium Marabou Blood Quills, (any color)
  • Tail flash: HEDRON Flashabou – (any color)
  • Rattle: 9mm long, 2 steel ball glass rattle
  • Body: MONTANA FLY COMPANY Arizona Simi Seal MEGA Dub, (any color)
  • Body: STEVE FARRAR SF blend, (any color)
  • Body: HEDRON Flashabou - Pearl
  • Legs: 1.2mm Steel Ball chain, Black

------------- INSTRUCTIONS -------------

  1. Insert pin into cone, place in vise with cone pointing down. Add a drop of UV resin into open end of cone. While holding the cone centered on pin, cure the resin with UV torch.
  2.  Cut the pin and lash to hook shank.
  3. With hook point down, lash rattle onto hook shank.
  4. Coat rattle and lashed down pin with UV resin, cure with UV torch.
  5. Tie in a Marabou tail about 1 ½ the length of the hook, add 3-4 strands of    Flashabou to each side of the tail.
  6. Cut two pairs of 1 ½” long bead chain and drape them over hook shank with hook point facing up as shown.
  7. Apply a drop of UV resin to bead chains and hit them with the UV torch to lock them in place before lashing them down with figure-eight wraps.
  8. Create a 4-5-inch double-thread dubbing loop using a base of MFC Mega dub, then lay 1” to 1 ½” lengths of SF Blend over dubbing, follow with a sprinkling of 1” to 1 ½” lengths of Flashabou. Grab these fibers with dubbing tweezers and place them in the double-thread dubbing loop.
  9. Twist into a rope, brush out the fibers and wrap onto hook shank, going around and between bead chains, constantly preening the fibers back. Take care not to trap the legs. Finish wrapping tight to the conehead and whip finish.

Finished MINI MIDNIGHT REAPER, tied on a #8 MUSTAD 90° jig hook with:

  • Head:  WHOLESALE FLY COMPANY - 5/32” Brass Cone head, Black Nickel
  • Thread:  VEEVUS - 100D, Black
  • Tail:  FULLING MILL - Premium Marabou blood quills, Black
  • Tail Flash:  FLASHABOU - Tinsel Flash, Moon
  • Rattle:  9mm long glass rattle with 2 steel balls
  • Body:  MONTANA FLY COMPANY – Arizona Simi Seal, Mega Dub, Firecracker
  • Body:  STEVE FARRAR SF Blend -  FBL 45, Black
  • Body:  HEDRON Flashabou – Pearl
  • Legs: 1.2mm Steel Ball Chain - Black

 

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